Naysayers

The following is a list of the post titles by author under this topic. Scroll further down this page to find the actual blog post by your selected author. Author’s posts appear in reverse alphabetical order.

Fred Wilson venture capitalist and Co-Founder Union Square Ventures

“So Bill Gurley one time wrote something that I think is really really true which is the only way to make a lot of money is to believe something that everyone else believes is wrong [] that turns out to be right. [] The only way to make money is to believe something that turns out to be true that nobody else believes.” This Week in Startups, Fred Wilson, episode # 523, Mar 10, 2015 @ approx. 16.42 min.

Peter Thiel General Partner Founders Fund and former entrepreneur

“Our contrarian question- What important truth do very few people agree with you on? – is difficult to answer directly. It may be easier to start with a preliminary: what does everybody agree on? [] If you can identify a delusional popular belief, you can find what lies hidden behind it: the contrarian truth.”

“The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself.”

“The business version of our contrarian question is: what valuable company is nobody building? This question is harder than it looks, because your company could create a lot of value without becoming very valuable itself. Creating value is not enough – you also need to capture some of the value you create.”

“Most answers to the contrarian question are different ways of seeing the present; good answers are as close as we can come to looking into the future.” Peter Thiel, Zero to One, copyright 2014, pg 12, 22, 23, 6

Bill Gross Founder and CEO business incubator Idealab

“[Perhaps the] biggest, entrepreneurial lesson: All truth passes through three stages. First, an idea is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Think about it: A breakthrough idea is a crazy idea . . . right until it crosses over to be a big breakthrough idea. You must be willing to face some ridicule and opposition before you can make your idea become self-evident.” Bill Gross: Here Are The 12 Lessons I've Learned In My 30 Years Of Being An Entrepreneur, Dec. 15, 2011, as quoting German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer; http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-lessons-2011-12#lesson-12-all-truth-passes-through-three-stages-39#ixzz1j6DvYFem